Wow, I slept so bad last night as Taibu carried on and on. I thought I would be depressed, with a frigid morning weather forecasted (where I live) and expecting a score of 70/4 or something. Neither was the weather that bad nor was Bangladesh’s position. Now I am all charged up for the final fight by our team on the 5th day. I have read most of the threads regarding our chances, Whatmore’s strategy, and what not and below I assess the situation as I see it.

There have been some positives for us in this match, of which Zimbabwe had upper hand most of the time. There has been the continuous success of Enamul who has created some records in the process. We have already achieved 25% of our target score and that too, without a loss. That is a big big plus. As we know, this is already the highest opening partnership for Bangladesh in test cricket. Surely, Zimbabwe will come out with all that they have. And that means the bowling of Hondo only. Their spinners are not the greatest, so we need to be careful about the reverse swing basically. We need to approach as if our target was 270 something with 10 wickets and 90 overs to get them. That is very doable. But those who know cricket will also realize that there is enough time and overs to lose as well. In a post yesterday, I said that I did not care how, but we need to stick it out there and I am so glad that the first part has already been done successfully by our openers. If we were to win, we would not necessarily need to fire on all cylinders, more importantly, we would need someone like Taibu, to just be there. That could come from Javed. He needs to stay put like crazy glue to the wicket. If he fails, then Rajin can take up the role. Rajin also is in good form lately. We need nothing out of the ordinary from Bashar, Ashraful and Aftab. They need just not throw away there wicket chasing balls outside the off stump or dancing down the wicket. If boundaries do not come, take singles and twos when possible. We are lucky that our bottom half batsmen/bowlers almost always score some runs. But this time let us not leave too much for them. Runs are due from some players like, Aftab, Ashraful and Pilot. In the end it does not matter who does and who does not score, as long as we cross the final line.

My target from session to session would be like this: by lunch another 80-90 for 1-2 wickets down; between lunch and tea another 80-90 for the loss of another 1-2 wickets. At the top of the final session we will have around 90-110 to chase with about 6-8 wickets for the final attack.

We are still in the match even after some injury problems, first Rafiq and then Masri – two key players. Rafiq is a fighter. I know he has not been among wickets, but he keeps one end tight. Without his tremendous batting effort in the first innings we would not be in this match at this time. Masri also bowled well in this innings and can score a few runs. I hope he can come and bat if we need him in the second innings. I am thinking of the song by Bete Midler – “God is watching us from a distance.” .

Audio/Video

I cannot thank enough, the people who have made it possible for us to listen to the audio commentary. That means so much, to so many of us. I hope it continues on to the final day. TV commentaries are not ball-by-ball as the commentators assume that people are watching the game. So they don’t give the scores often. But I am not complaining, it is much better than having nothing. Is it possible to arrange the video part by payment for the last day? If so, please let us know in advance. About 12 hours left for the final act to commence! May be I should take a nap now

Although we can always snatch "defeat from the jaws of victory",I think the match will go all the way. The pitch is holding up and only rain may threaten a result.

276 is entirely gettable in a full day's play. The openers need to see out the early morning conditions and get to the second new ball. If the top order can keep us within striking distance - say behind by 100-125 at tea, I believe the tail has enough to win it or hold out for a draw in the last session.

I expect to see more grafting in the first session to ensure we can draw the match. Later, if we have wickets in hand, they will accelerate.